Cooling system



y 1958 E. w. LEATHERMAN 2,835,184

COOLING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 20, 1955 FIG. I

FIG. 2

- INVENTOR. EARL W. LEATHERMAN an (r w ATTORNEY May 20, 1958 E. w. LEATHERMAN 2,835,184

COOLING SYSTEM Filed April 20, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 5;. EARL W. LEATHERMAN ATTORNEY United States Patent COOLING SYSTEM Earl W. Leatherman, Akron, Ohio Application April 20, 1955, Serial No. 502,560

'5 Claims. (Cl. 98-30) This invention relates to a cooling system designed more particularly for cooling a building in a warm, dry climate. It includes a building in which the cooling system is installed.

The cooling system is designed particularly for installation in a tall, narrow chamber built into a building, preferably adjacent the outside wall. In this preferred construction there is a vent opening through the outside wall, and also means for circulating air from the chamber into the building. The cooling system includes one or preferably a plurality of containers which are advantageously made from water-permeable cloth, preferably tightly woven cotton duck but other cloths may be used such as those woven from glass, asbestos fibers, etc. When water is put into these containers their outer surfaces become moist, and the evaporation of this moisture produces the cooling eflect which is used for cooling the building or for any other purpose.

One difiiculty with containers, all made from the same cloth is that the water permeability of a container depends upon the head of the water within it. Thus, if the cooling system were constructed as a single deep cotton duck bag the weight of the water in the bag pressing against the duck would vary at different distances upward from the bottom of the bag causing considerably more water to be transmitted through the bottom of the wall than through the top of the wall. To prevent this, the preferred cooling system of this invention is made of a plurality of bags, no one of which is more than a couple of feet in height. Thus, the water will permeate through the wall of the bag at both its top and its bottom at much the same rate, keeping the outer surface of the wall substantially uniformly moist, over at least a large portion of its area, for cooling a building or parts thereof, etc.

For convenience it is desirable to have the various bags in any cooling system arranged one above another, with an overflow from near the top of each bag to the bag below it. Then water need be supplied to only the top bag in order to operate the entire system. Ordinarily there will be an overflow from the bottom bag, but it is possible to regulate the rate of inflow of water into the top bag to keep the height of the water in the bottom bag substantially constant without any overflow.

In a multi-story building it is advantageous to provide a plurality of ventilating chambers, each extending from one floor to the next. The air to be cooled is then taken into the top of each chamber and passed into the adjoining room (or elsewhere) through a vent near the bottom of the chamber. These ventilating chambers may extend the whole width of a room, but that is not necessary. The amount of cooling required will depend upon the average temperature and humidity of the atmosphere; and the dimensions of any cooling system and ventilating chamher will be selected accordingly.

The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in whichtion has a wax-metallic soap 2,835,184 Patented May 20, 1958 Fig. 1 is an elevation of one adaptation of the cooling system;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the cooling system in a ventilating chamber in a building;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of an alternative type of cooling system; and r Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 showing the cooling system in a ventilating chamber in a multistory building. r

Figures 1-3 show a cooling system composed of "a plurality of bags or containersl, all fastened to the curtain 3 which is advantageously composed of the same cloth as the outer walls of the containers. The cloth of the drawings will be considered to be cotton duck, but other cloths may be used.

The upper end of the curtain is folded over the tube 4 which is supported at its opposite ends, and supports the entire cooling system. The bags 1 are stitched to the ply 3, at the top 6 and bottom 7 of each. A single stitching may serve to hold the top of one bag and the bottom of another bag to the curtain. The duck is of such a construction as to be water permeable. When filled with water the outside of each bag is maintained in a moist condition by water which constantly permeates through the bag wall.

The duck may, for example, be 14.90 oz. single-fill cotton duck (which has a thread count in the range of 88 x 28 with the warp containing 9.60 yarn and the filling 3.21). One such cotton duck which is suitable for use in the construction of the cooling system of this invencombination applied to it out of a solvent or water-emulsion system whereby some 20 to 35 percent of solids is added to the duck. Nevertheless, the spacing of the threads is such as to give the desired permeability.

Near the top of each bag is an overflow opening 10 through which the overflow from each bag flows into the overflow conduit 11 (preferably but not necessarily made of duck) and thence into the feed opening 12 near the top of the bag immediately below it. The pipe 15 enters the top bag l'through the opening 16 in the duck curtain 3 and supplies water at such a rate as to keep the water at the overflow level in each of the bags.

There is a further opening 20 in each bag which is covered by the canvas tab 21, and this opening serves for emptying the bags, when necessary, as for repairs or replacement, etc. The entire cooling system may then be removed from the support 4 and be inverted until all the water has drained from the several bags.

The cooling system is advantageously supported in a tall, narrow chamber formed by the walls If this chamber is located between two rooms in a building the walls of the chamber need not be insulated. Care rowness of the chamber accentuates this flow.

may be taken to see that their construction and any decorative covering on them are heat conductive. Suitable openings will be provided, preferably near the bottom of the chambers, to convey the cooled and humidified air from them into the adjoining rooms, or elsewhere.

The walls are close to the filled bags to provide a narrow passage for the flow of air over each surface of the bags. As the air becomes moist and cooler it becomes heavier and tends to descend in the chamber. The nar- Figures 4 and 5 illustrate an alternative type of coolingsystem construction situated in a multi-story building. The wall 30 is an outside wall of the wall 31 is an inside wall which separates the system installation from an adjoining room. Aluminum or other reflecting foil 32 or other insulating material minimizes the effect of the outside heat radiation on the and 26.

building, and the cooling 3 air within the .intra-mural' space. The wall 31 maybe papered on the inside at 33 rather than plastered, to permit the cooling efiect of the ventilating chamber to be-conductedithroughzthe wallet into-theroom. vHowever, the main cooling will be brought about by air drawn through the ventopening il fiat thetop ofithe outside wall near the level of 'the upper floor 36 and passed down through the space -or chamber between the walls by gravity and outo'f this chamber through the vent opening 38 located near the lower floor 39. The walls '40 separate the chamber vertically into sections so that all or the air 'cooled in one section which is vertically coextensive with a room is passed into that room through a b'ottom v'ent opening. Thus, there will be individual chambers adjacent-the outside wall at each story oft-he building and *the air will be automatically circulated throughea'ch chamber-into the room immediately adjacent the chamber.

The cooling unit illustrated in Figs. 4 and is constructedfr'om a single sheet of cottom duck which is folded-attire bottom 50 and forms the inner and outer Walls-51 and '52 of the cooling system. There are hori zontal stitchings 54 at various levels to divide the cooling system into'h'orizontal compartmenta each carrying only a small head of water.

By'makingeach lower compartment of less height than the compartment above it, as illustrated, the volume of water per unit surface area is minimized, so that the system will carry a minimum weight of water with maximum cooling. -Each lower compartment will be cooler than the one above it. The water from the bottom unit will be 'so 'cold 'that instead of using it for air conditioning it maybe circulated through a cooling jacket on any typeot equipment, etc.

The pipe 56 conveys water into the top bag through the opening '57 in theinner wall 51 of the cooling system. 'There'is ail-overflow conduit 5% connecting opening 59 'at-thetop of each'bag with inlet opening 60 in the top of the bag immediately below it. Drain openings .63 are provided as previously described. The overflow from the bottom bag may be conducted through thepipe 65 to awas't-eline or to the upper bag of a cooling system located in the chamber immediately below that illustrated in full;*or"it may be'reuse'd in the same system with the addition of "SUfilClFJDt water to replace that which ha evaporated.

Thus, bags of cotton duck or other suitable material located one above another, with the overflow from one bag of'thes'yste'm conveyed to the bag immediatelybelow it, form an inexpensive and compact cooling system. The bags'may be of any suitable design, and the overfiows'may-be formed of cotton duck, plastic tubing, or of any other suitable material. The units are sulliciently permeable to water so that when water is placed in them their outer surfaces-are moist. These units are usually thefullwidth of the "duck or cloth from which they are made, viz., several feet wide. .The evaporation of this moisture cools and humidifies the air outside of the unit, and by placing the unit in a vertical ventilating shaft or chamber a down draft through the chamber is created.

The system need not be located in a building. For example,-'the ventilating chamber may be made of canvas and-be'located near a tent or other mobile unit, and be used for cooling the tent, etc. or for-any other purpose. The Water from it may be circulated through the cooling jacket on machinery, etc.

The water is always enclosed in the bags and is thus kept clean and uncontaminated. If originally pure, it is kept'pure and may be used for drinking. If taken from the bottom bag it will be cooler than the water fed to ""th'etsyste'm, and-may serv'eas a constant supply of cool drinking water.

Althoughathe chamber is advantageously located adjacent theouts'ide wall'of ab'u'ilding, it'rn'ay be shaped somewhatasa chimney and be located centrally of;tl1e building and the outside air conveyed to it through a suitable conduit, and the cooled air may pass from it through a vent opening or suitable conduit, etc.

The drawings, etc. are illustrative. Details may be changed without departing from the invention which is defined in the claims.

What I claim is:

l. A cooling device which comprises a plurality of containers for water with water-permeable walls so that when the containers have water in them their outer surfaces are kept moist, means supporting one container above another, overflow means connected near the top of each for conveying overflow from each container to the container beneath it, means for introducing water into the top container, and means for conducting the air downwardly over the water-permeable walls of the cont ainer.

2-. A cooling device having front and back walls formed of cotton duck with the lateral ends and the bottom closed, horizontal stitchings which hold the walls together and form horizontal compartments, rnean's for introducing water into the top compartment, overflow means connected near the top of each compartment and leading to thenext lowercompartment, the duck being permeable to-w-ater'so that when the compartments cont-aiu water their outer surfaces are kept moist, and means for conducting air downwardly over said frontand back walls.

3. in a building, a ventilating chamber extending a relatively short distance from the outside wallof the building to 'thewall or" a room within the building, the chamber beingvertically substantially co-extensive with the'room, a vent opening through the outside wall at the top of the chamber to convey outside air into the chamber, a vent'through-the wall of the room near'the bottom of the chamber to pass air from the chamber to the room, and the cooling device of claim 2 withinthc chamber. I

4. A cooling device composed of a plurality of containers, means supporting one above another, each container'having a smaller volume than the container above it, the walls of the containers being water permeable so that their outer surfaces are kept moist when the containers have water in them, an overflow from near the top of each container to near the top of the container next below it, and means'for introducing Water to-the top container.

'5. A cooling device composed of a curtain with containers formed alternately on opposite sides of the curtain, means supporting one above another, the curtain forming at least a portion of the wall of each container, substantially the entire wall of each container being water permeable so thatthe outer surfaces of the containers are continually kept moist when water is in them, means for introducing water to the top container, and overflow means connected near the top of each container for conveying Water therefrom to a lower container.

'6.'In .a building, a ventilating chamber built into an outside wall of the building, said chamber extending substantially from the ceiling to the floor of a room bounded by said wall, with a vent opening through the wall from the outside of the building to the chamber near the top thereof to convey outside air into the chamber, a vent through the wall from the chamber to the room and near thebottorn thereof to pass air from the chamber to the room, and in the chamber a plurality of water-permeable cloth means located at different levels with overflow means connecting the top of each bag with a bag at a lower level for conveying overflow water from each-bag to a bag-at a lower level, an opening in the'top bag with means for the introduction of Water thereto.

' (References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Erbsloh July 11, 1905 6 Burch Jan. 6, 1914 Du Commun Mar. 30, 1915 Felstrup May 27, 1919 Long June 17, 1919 Kik July 11, 1922 Marsalis Mar. 30, 1948 

